Incontinence patients, due to the condition of not being able to control the bodily excretion of urine and fecal matter, are often faced with treatment options that have major adverse side effects. For bed-ridden patients, treatment options often include the utilization of diapers, diaper-like garments or other methods that result in skin exposure to urine and fecal matter. Considering the unpleasant presence of odor and soiled linens, along with prevalent breakdown of the skin, which often causes open wounds and infection, there is a need to provide a more effective and economical treatment for incontinent patients. There is also a need to provide a treatment option for those under “end of life” care where comfort and dignity is paramount. The later scenario often involves in-home treatment by family members whose physical and emotional strains are further impacted by the physical demands of frequent diaper replacement and associated cleaning routines of these body areas. These cleansed skin areas typically degrade due to exposure to urine and fecal matter, often resulting in contaminated open wounds. The implementation of the fully automated apparatus and processes embodied herein offers a dignified, highly efficient, labor free and cost effective means of treating this condition with dignity, while alleviating the physical demands and sleep interruption associated with the changing of diapers.
The use of catheters for treating urinary incontinence often results in pain and high exposure to infection. The implementation of the fully automated apparatus and processes embodied herein offers a comfortable alternative to catheters while minimizing exposure to infection.
There is a large population of spinal and brain injury patients that require complete immobility over a long term. Once some degree of mobility is restored, these patients typically endure many months of wound care treatment to repair skin breakdown attributed to exposure to bodily excretions. The apparatus and processes embodied herein would eliminate the need for follow-on wound care once mobility is restored.
The physical lift demands and spillage associated with obese patients utilizing bed pans could be simply eliminated through the use of the apparatus and processes embodied herein.
There is a large population of ostomy patients who are plagued with prevalent odor and bag leakage problems as well as skin irritations. These issues could be easily and cost effectively resolved through the use of the apparatus embodied herein.
It is therefore an advantage of some, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the present invention to provide an apparatus and process for the flushing of human waste products within the effected area that provides patient comfort, preserves skin integrity, reduces wound care and alleviates physical exertion of care givers associated with changing diapers and cleaning affected areas.
Additional advantages of various embodiments of the invention are set forth, in part, in the description that follows and, in part, will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the description and/or from the practice of the invention.